Love Bug
by MellodramaticLawliet
Summary: Keith is bitten by an alien bug which causes him to act all "lovey-dovey" toward the first person he sees... Which, naturally, happens to be Lance.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

 **This fic is dedicated to eyugho on tumblr, whose art is not only fantastic, but also the basis of this story! ;)**

If he were to squint, the strange plants surrounding them looked a bit similar to palm trees.

Notos was the most earth-like planet they'd visited in a while: blue skies, white clouds, green grass… The only thing missing so far was an ocean, but the humidity in the air held a whisper of rain, and for once Lance couldn't keep himself from hoping.

As team Voltron trailed toward the castle after the diplomatic party, Lance dawdled, lazily scanning the skies for any sign of rain clouds.

"Lance! Try to keep up, would you?"

He turned to Shiro's fondly exasperated expression, nodding sheepishly as he jogged to catch up with the group.

"You'll have time to explore later, I promise, but for now we have to get through the boring stuff." Shiro clapped him on the back, and Lance hastily swallowed his nostalgia.

"Boring? Are you kidding?" he grinned, earning himself an eye roll, "I heard there was gonna be a parade later!"

"Is that all you ever think about?"

Shiro sighed as Lance turned to stick his tongue out at Keith, and quickly ushered them both onward, "Come on guys, not in front of the Notorians."

The three of them turned back to the group, who had continued on obliviously. The Notorians seemed much too enthralled with Allura and Hunk to pay their pause any attention; though Lance couldn't say he blamed them.

The Notorians themselves were a vaguely humanoid species; only instead of legs they had scaled tails with fin-like protrusions. Kind of like land snake-mermaids; which got Lance to wondering if there were any beaches nearby as they all ascended the castle steps.

An hour later, about halfway through the meeting, Lance was ready to eat his words as he drummed his fingers against the table boredly. He could see Pidge's eye twitching in the corner of his vision and bit back a smirk, slyly increasing the tempo of his drumming.

"Would you stop that?!"

Lance leaned across Pidge to scowl at Keith, who was glaring at him with his arms folded, "Oh I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" He hissed back, careful to keep his voice at a whisper.

The resulting glare was answer enough, so Lance increased his tapping, reveling in the way Keith's eyebrows began to twitch. That, more than anything, was always a surefire sign that he'd managed to strike a nerve.

He could see Shiro side-eyeing them reproachfully, but the Notorians were too preoccupied with the presentation to pay them any attention.

Besides, it'd been days since he'd last bugged Keith to the point of twitching, and Lance had to admit his pettiness meter hit an all time high that morning when Keith had actually pushed his lion out of the way just to show off.

"Gotta be fast" his ass.

Lance escalated the tapping, and even went so far to click his tongue, and Keith slammed his hand down on the table, "Could you _not_ be annoying for two seconds?!"

Allura's voice faltered as the Notorian delegation all turned to them. Kolivan at the end of the table seemed particularly unamused by the interruption.

Shiro stood, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'm terribly sorry, it's been a long day and I'm sure Keith's just tired from the battle earlier-"

"More like tired of Lance's shit." Pidge muttered, and Hunk tried to conceal a snort.

Shiro shot them a glare, and Lance grinned at them smugly. Luckily Allura swooped in and saved the day, "Perhaps the paladins should go catch their breath for a while before the parade," Lance's ears perked up at the word, "And we can continue this meeting in the mean time? I'm sure your people would love the opportunity to see the paladins of Voltron up close."

The Notorians whispered amongst themselves, a few of them side-eyeing Lance and Keith before the leader finally nodded, smiling graciously at Allura, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Princess. If they follow the path we took here they should reach the town. Feel free to walk around and meet the people."

"Yes!" Lance jumped up, racing to Hunk's side, "Time to meet some of the locals." He raised his eyebrows suggestively and Hunk groaned.

"Just try not to scare them off, we need this alliance."

Lance scoffed, "Hunk, buddy… You underestimate my skills."

He heard Keith snort from behind him, but was saved the snarky retort as Shiro punched his shoulder reproachfully.

The second they set foot on the ground Lance relaxed, the air was still warm and humid, and he could just barely make out a couple particularly dark clouds on the horizon. Just _one time_ he wished it would rain while they were planet side.

The trek to the village was down a path lined by thick foliage. Most of it was foreign looking: brightly colored, and oddly shaped, though dotted once in a while by those towering plants that reminded Lance vaguely of palm trees.

Pidge kept stopping to scan the blooms around them with her gauntlet, muttering things about biorhythms or something else tech-y, but Lance paid her no attention as he admired a particularly pretty flower… thing.

It honestly resembled a hand more than a flower, but its surface was a deep purple that Lance found extremely captivating. As he bent down to touch it he wondered absently if the Notorians would throw these things during the parade like Earthlings did with flowers.

"Hey, maybe you shouldn't touch that."

Lance rolled his eyes and turned to find Keith staring at him, arms folded. He startled as he realized Keith's eyes were the same strange deep purple as the hand-flower, but quickly shook off his surprise, opting instead for a more basic scowl.

"Oh of course, the fun-killer has to come and kill all the fun." Lance reached over and touched the flower, "Look, I'm touching it. I'm not dead yet, am I?"

Keith grit his teeth, his eyebrows twitching once again, "I'm just saying, we don't know anything about those things. What if it was poisonous?"

Lance rolled his eyes, holding up his covered hand, "Dude we're wearing armor. Plus, I think the Notorians would've warned us if they had poisonous plants growing in their backyard."

"Maybe they assumed none of us would be stupid enough to go around touching stuff." Keith frowned.

"Hey, who're you calling stupid?" Lance glared, "At least I'm having fun, unlike you, who's just as grouchy as usual!"

"Woah, come on guys." Shiro got in between them, shooting each a look, "Seriously, what's gotten into you two today?"

It was true they hadn't been arguing as much lately; somewhere along the line their rivalry had turned into camaraderie, and then tentative friendship, and then… Lance didn't like to admit it, particularly not to himself, but it'd even begun to morph into something a bit… more.

Though naturally, the more he was sure there was something other than friendship on his mind, the more sure Lance became that the same didn't go for Keith.

Ever since he'd come to this conclusion, Lance had done his best to cover up his feelings; the more he felt, the more he would antagonize Keith. It was foolproof.

Lance grumbled, backing off and folding his arms, "Keith's being all surly again."

"I'm not being anything!" Keith growled, "You're the one acting weird!"

"Lance." Shiro shot him a look as he opened his mouth to retaliate, and Lance quickly reconsidered his approach.

" _Whatever_." Lance shot Keith one more glare before stalked away, and offering his arm to Hunk in mock chivalry, "Come along Prince Hunk, I wanna to go meet some Notorian babes."

Hunk rolled his eyes but took it anyway. Pidge caught up to them as Shiro and Keith lagged behind a little to talk, and Lance offered her his other arm, which she accepted with only minimal eye rolling.

"Hey," She squinted up at him, "Quit pulling his pigtail."

Lance scoffed, ignoring her implication as Hunk snickered from his left, "More like quit pulling his _mullet_ , am I right?"

Pidge shot him an unamused look, "You know that's not what I-"

"Yeah, you're right, Pidge," Lance agreed, just loudly enough for Keith to overhear, "Maybe I _should_ just cut off his mullet in his slee-"

"DO IT AND YOU DIE!"

Lance snickered and Hunk poked him in the side reproachfully, "Pidge's right dude, there are better ways to get his attention-"

"It's not like that, big guy," Lance cut him off hurriedly, "I just like pissing him off. We _are_ rivals after all."

"Maybe to you."

Lance was about to retort when someone cried out suddenly from behind them. He whipped around just as Keith doubled over, one hand clutching the back of his neck, "I think something just bit me…"

"Keith!" They all hurried over, Lance in the lead, "Hey man, are you-"

He placed a hand on Keith's shoulder but jumped back quickly as Keith's head snapped up, their eyes locking suddenly.

"Uh…" Lance blinked as Keith's expression morphed into something unreadable, "Dude?"

"There!" Pidge pointed to a large pink bug fluttering around a few feet away, "Shiro catch it!"

Shiro quickly swiped at it with a glowing hand as everyone else watched Keith's strange expression apprehensively.

"We need to get it back to the castle so I can make sure Keith hasn't been poisoned or anything." Pidge bit her lip, shrinking back as Keith suddenly launched himself at Lance.

He let out an extremely unflattering yelp as the team's quickest member wrapped his arms around his neck like lightning.

Lance lay winded for a few moments, Keith having literally tackled him to the ground, before realizing that Keith hadn't actually tried to strangle him but instead was… hugging him?

"Keith? Buddy?" Lance prodded at Keith's shoulder, but the red paladin refused to budge as he buried his face in Lance's neck.

Lance felt heat pooling into his stomach, and it dawned on him suddenly that things were about to get real bad, real quick.

"Shiro!" Lance struggled desperately, "Get him off me!"

Shiro and Hunk snapped out of their surprise and moved to rescue him; Shiro handing the bug off to Pidge, who had procured a small containment unit from her back pack.

With a tremendous amount of effort, the two of them managed to pry Keith up off of him, but as he was yanked away Keith let out a piteous whine, fixing him with such baleful eyes that Lance felt his chest physically constrict.

"Shiro, Pidge, what…?" Lance couldn't tear his eyes away from Keith, who was struggling to get back to him, his eyes pleading.

"We have to get him back to the castle." Shiro grunted, obviously strained with the effort of holding Keith, "Stay back." He motioned at him as Lance made to stand up, "I can't tell what he's thinking, but it seems to be centered around you."

Lance gulped, glancing away from Keith's expression, and slipped his helmet on, signaling to Coran to get a bed ready.

They met in what Lance _lovingly_ referred to as the "Nurse's Office," which was where they all went when their injuries were too light to warrant a trip to the healing pods.

There wasn't much in the room; just a few beds and a cabinet full of supplies that were, for the most part, rather similar to what you'd find in an average Earthen nurse's office.

Lance watched anxiously as Shiro handcuffed Keith to one of the beds, unnerved by the way his eyes seemed to be glued to his. Lance paced back and forth experimentally, watching the way Keith's eyes tracked his movement like a haunted painting.

Soon after they arrived, Allura had burst in asking them each a million questions and remarking that Keith should've known better than to play around with random bugs.

Lance braced for the inevitable smug glance, but frowned when it didn't come. Instead Keith seemed to finally manage to tear his eyes away from Lance, glancing up at Shiro.

"Let me go."

"I can't." Shiro frowned, "You attacked Lance, and you aren't acting like yourself."

"I'm perfectly fine, look." Keith raised a hand, waving it in front of his face sarcastically, "I don't need to be policed."

Shiro looked conflicted, glancing to Allura who shrugged, seeming equally confused. Finally, he turned to him, "What do you think, Lance?"

Keith flinched noticeably at his name, and Hunk sputtered indignantly, "Oh come on, Keith just attacked him!"

"Very true," Coran nodded, "Are you sure it's the best idea to let him loose after he physically assaulted another paladin?"

"Guys it's okay." Lance placed a hand on Hunk's shoulder, recalling the way Keith's arms had wrapped around his neck, "He didn't hurt me, and he seems fine now… right Keith?"

Keith flinched, obviously avoiding his eyes, and Lance gulped.

"Shiro, _please_." Keith rattled the handcuff pointedly, and Shiro raised an eyebrow at Lance, who nodded.

"Fine," Shiro sighed, reluctantly, "but you can't-"

The second the restraint was removed, Keith ducked around Shiro's outstretched arm and pounced on Lance, who had been expecting it, and managed to remain upright as Keith nuzzled into his neck.

"Keith!" Shiro rushed over, but Lance gestured for them all to calm down.

"Look," He spread his arms as Keith clung to his torso, trying to seem as unaffected as he desperately wanted to be, "he's not hurting me."

Shiro and Allura stared at him flabbergasted, and Coran tapped his chin, "How peculiar… this isn't some strange Earth custom is it?"

"Definitely not." Hunk shook his head, "You had it right the first time, this is _definitely_ peculiar."

Lance glanced down at Keith, who had raised his head and was staring at him intently. At Lance's confused expression, his face broke out in a small smile, and Lance swallowed thickly, hoping Keith couldn't feel his heart racing in his chest.

"Shiro?" He asked nervously, and Shiro shrugged.

"Don't look at me… Pidge?"

Pidge had just re-entered the room after running off to consult the Notorians, avidly typing away at her computer, the bug in a little pod connected by a cable.

"Honestly?" She adjusted her glasses, glancing around at them all, "it's a miracle something like this hasn't happened sooner. I mean, we've visited how many strange planets over the past couple of months alone? The chances of us _not_ being affected by any of their ecosystems is-"

"Pidgeon!" Lance shouted over her babbling, "English!"

"It's a love bug."

"It's a what?!" Lance exclaimed, twisting and shoving until Keith was happily hugging him from behind so he could properly convey his stress to Pidge, who was seeming entirely too unconcerned.

"Oh!" They all turned to Allura as she exclaimed, "I've heard of these, we used to import them to Altea during the festival of the Sloviklargelhem!"

"Ah, yes," Coran piped up helpfully, "The festival to commemorate the mating season of the Sloviklargel! I believe _Valentine's day_ is the closest thing you earthlings have."

Coran had been attempting to learn more about Earth culture, mostly from Lance, who, more often than not, somehow managed to get stuck on pod cleaning duty with him.

"Okayyy…" Lance drew out the word, trying desperately to ignore the way Keith had begun nuzzling his cheek into Lance's shoulder blade, "I'm still not following, what does that have to do with the bug?"

"This insect was part of a popular game among our people," Allura covered up a giggle with her hand, shooting Lance a piteous expression, "It's really quite harmless."

"Basically when someone's bitten by one of these things, they act all lovey-dovey to the first person they see." Pidge grinned at Lance evilly as he realized what that meant, "It'll wear off in a few days."

"What?!" Lance gaped at them, barely registering as Keith's hands roamed over his chest, "You can't be serious!"

"Lance, chill." Pidge rolled her eyes, "It's not that big of a deal. Just suck it up and deal with it, or avoid him. It's not that hard."

"Well…" Allura grimaced, "Those affected by the love bug bite can sometimes be very… determined."

The room fell silent as they all recalled Keith manipulating Shiro into removing the restraints. Lance in particular was trying to calculate how long it would be until his big secret was unceremoniously thrust out into the open. He didn't know how long he would be able to hide it with Keith latching onto him at every available moment.

"Hey," Hunk finally broke the silence with a chuckle, "maybe this way they can actually bond and stop arguing all the time."

Pidge and Shiro snickered, and Allura shot Lance an apologetic glance as he did his best to keep from acknowledging Keith wrapped around him; which was made particularly difficult as Keith pressed a tiny kiss to the back of his neck.

"Okay!" Lance wrenched Keith off of him, ignoring his quiet moan of displeasure, and turned to Coran and Allura, "What are we supposed to do now? We can't exactly attend the parade with him literally hanging off me... I don't want the whole universe to think I'm dating Keith!"

He felt Keith's hands reaching for him again and placed his palm against his chest, holding Keith firmly at an arm's length.

"Yes, well…" Allura frowned and Lance felt his hopes fall, "We talked with the Notorians, and we've agreed to cancel the parade under the, um… _unusual_ circumstances."

"Aww come on!" Lance protested, giving up on holding Keith back and trying not to grimace as Keith's arms immediately encircled him, "First Keith won't get off me, and now we have to cancel the parade!?"

"I'm sorry Lance." Allura seemed a bit disappointed herself, "but with Keith in this condition we really shouldn't present ourselves to the public. Believe me when I say that rumors never die, and unless you're okay with people assuming you two are a couple..." She trailed off at the horrified expression on Lance's face.

He was about to protest when he felt a puff of breath against his ear.

"Don't worry."

Lance tensed, feeling shivers play chase up and down his spine as Keith whispered against his ear, "I'm sure we'll get another one."

Lance swallowed thickly, hoping that Keith couldn't literally feel his tension as he smiled softly against his neck.

The other paladins, along with Allura and Coran, seemed to be averting their eyes, and Lance knew how it must have looked to them.

"Well!" Lance announced, painstakingly peeling Keith from his side, "I'm going to go shower… or train. I don't know, one of the two."

He shrugged awkwardly and made to leave, but Keith immediately followed him.

"No," Lance shook his head adamantly, "You stay here." He pointed at the floor in front of him and Keith stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"But…" He fidgeted anxiously, and Lance felt uncomfortable just watching him, "I can't come train with you?"

Lance narrowed his eyes, "Will you be able to keep your hands to yourself?"

Keith nodded hastily, "Self restraint is what I'm best at."

Lance tensed, trying not to think about Keith having to restrain himself from touching him and shot the rest of the team a questioning glance.

They all seemed about as lost as he was, so he simply shrugged, "As long as you stay at least twenty feet away."

Keith grinned and skipped up to him, looping their arms, "What?" He asked innocently, "You never said I couldn't on the way there."

Lance gulped; a scheming Keith was not a Keith he wanted to be on the wrong end of. As the door swished shut behind them, Lance couldn't help but think that perhaps he was in too deep…

 **A/N**

 **Don't ask me to pronounce "Sloviklargelhem" I basically key smashed and then added vowels until it was pronounceable.**

 **The next chapter will be up tomorrow!**

 **(Also, sorry I haven't updated my other story in a while… I'm working on it, but I was having a bit of trouble with Lance's pov so I'm writing this story for practice!)**

 **MDL**


	2. Chapter 2

To his immense relief, Keith actually did manage to extract himself once they reached the training room, reluctantly heading for the gladiators as Lance made his way over to the shooting range.

Carefully lining up his first target, Lance felt the tension slowly drain from his shoulders. The familiar weight of his bayard and low hum of the training drones was comforting. Even the sound of Keith hacking away at a gladiator was practically music to his ears.

Despite this, Lance's head spun with the effort of trying to make sense of the situation as he easily blasted targets out of midair.

He'd been annoying Keith. **Bam**. Allura got mad. **Bam.** Keith got stung by some weird space bug. **Bam.** Keith won't stop hugging him…

Lance winced as his shot flew wide, though luckily it managed to hit a further drone, making it look like a much better shot than he'd actually been attempting.

He scratched the back of his head; it was all just so fucking _bizarre…_ like something out of a bad fanfiction… Add that to the fact that some dark unthinkable corner of Lance's mind actually kind of liked the attention he was getting from Keith?

He froze as his mind registered the silence in the room, and he turned to find that Keith had stopped training and was standing about twenty feet away, watching him intently.

Lance narrowed his eyes and blasted a drone from over his shoulder, shooting Keith a look that said, "come any closer and that'll be _you_." Keith held his hands up in mock surrender, and Lance reluctantly turned back to his targets.

Keith's resolve lasted all of two minutes. Lance was just lining up his sight when he felt arms snake around his waist and shrieked, accidentally blasting a hole in the wall.

"Out!" Lance shoved him, and Keith's expression fell. Lance tried unsuccessfully to fight the guilt in his stomach as Keith eyed him dejectedly; this wasn't his Keith.

His Keith would have punched Lance in the nose for shoving him, not stood there giving him puppy-dog eyes.

"Look, man," Lance rubbed a hand down his face, inching away as Keith inched closer, "I can't train like this. Just, go talk to Shiro for an hour or two and then I'll let you hug me all you want."

Keith seemed to perk up a bit at the notion, and hurried out of the room. Lance half expected him to come charging back in, but hugging him must have been enough of an incentive to get him to Shiro, and Lance had confidence in Shiro's ability to restrain him for an hour.

He slowly got back into training, and after about five minutes managed to quit compulsively checking the door behind him.

He couldn't help but feel bad for Keith, because as much as it pained _him_ , the real Keith was still in there somewhere, and when he finally came to his senses Lance couldn't imagine how horrified and embarrassed he'd be.

No matter what, he absolutely could not take advantage of the situation. Lance's heart sank as he realized that he was going to have to be extra especially careful not to let his own feelings affect his ability to help Keith through this.

There was definitely a line between allowing your teammate hug you because a bug bite compelled him to, and mistaking that compellation for genuine affection.

He just hoped Keith wouldn't end up hating him after this… things were definitely going to be at least a little awkward for a while, and as much as Lance detested the idea, perhaps it was for the best.

Why did _he_ have to be the first one Keith saw?

After blasting apart half of the training targets, Lance felt a lot better. Maybe not about the situation, but at least he was too tired to over think things. Reluctantly, he left the training deck in search of Keith, determined to at least make good on his promise.

He found Keith and Shiro in the lounge, stopping dead in the doorway as he noticed something strange about Keith's behavior; or, rather his lack of strange behavior.

He was sitting calmly on the couch, arms folded, and frowning at whatever Shiro was saying, but there was no hint of the lovey-dovey Keith that Lance had to physically pry off of him earlier.

The only thing seemingly out of the ordinary was the anxious bouncing of his foot, though Lance chalked that up to whatever lecture Shiro seemed to be giving him at the moment.

Had he been faking it? No, Lance shook his head, the Love Bug was real, confirmed by both Allura and the Notorians… and besides, what reason would Keith have to relentlessly cuddle him?

"Hey." Lance stepped into the room cautiously, watching as Keith's attention automatically zoomed in on him like a homing device.

He shot up from the couch, but Shiro had caught a hold of his arm before he could attack, and Keith was obviously no match for him, Love Bug or no.

Lance sighed, hoping down onto the couch and crossing his legs, "It's fine Shiro, I promised him earlier."

Shiro bit his lip, but released Keith reluctantly. Keith immediately snuggled into his side, clutching his arm as he rubbed his cheek into Lance's shoulder.

Lance swallowed, hoping that he wasn't blushing as hard as he suspected he was and reluctantly met Shiro's eyes. Shiro opened his mouth as if he'd been about to say something when the door whooshed open and Pidge and Hunk walked in.

"Woah," Hunk stopped in his tracks, rubbing his eyes, "I almost forgot that that's a thing now."

Lance rolled his eyes as Hunk continued to stare, "Only for a few days."

"Hopefully." Pidge piped up, and Lance wanted to strangle her, "In some cases, albeit rarely, the Love Bug bite can last for weeks or even months-"

"Nope." Lance shook his head adamantly, "That's not gonna happen."

"Would that be so bad?" Lance gulped as the room quieted, and glanced down to meet Keith's endearingly earnest eyes, "Would it?"

Lance nearly face-palmed, "Yes, Keith, it would. And if you weren't out of your mind right now, you'd agree with me."

Keith shrugged absently, tucking his head back into Lance's neck, and Lance nearly exploded at the smug look on Pidge's face. He must have been blushing so hard.

Hunk and Pidge joined them on the couch, and after a few awkward moments Hunk struck up a conversation about mechanics or something, but Lance couldn't seem to focus on anything other than the warm weight of Keith pressed snugly against his side.

"You okay?" he glanced down to find Keith staring up at him intently, "I'm not bugging you, am I?"

Lance snorted, "No more than usual."

Keith bit his lip, glancing away, and Lance frowned. _Had he just hurt Keith's feelings?_

"Hey," Lance poked his shoulder lightly, jumping when Keith's hand reached up to snatch his.

"Yeah?"

Lance hesitated, watching Keith thread their fingers together playfully, "You know I was kidding, right?"

Keith smiled softly, "I know."

Lance glanced up, only then realizing that the others had fallen silent in favor of watching them. At his unamused look, they hastily went back to talking, but Lance still had the feeling that they all knew more than they should.

He was saved the question by Allura entering the room and plopping down on the couch beside him and Keith.

"Keith," She smiled, seeming tense as Keith paid her barely any attention, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." He muttered, "Comfortable."

"I'm sure," Allura sighed, grimacing at Lance, who mimicked her expression, "And what about you Lance?"

"I'm okay." Lance shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant as Keith continued to play with his hand.

"Good." Allura nodded, though she seemed unconvinced, "It's important for you to be comfortable as well. As harmless as the bite may be, Keith is still going to need your support."

Lance raised an eyebrow, "Looks like I'm the knight in shining armor, and Keith's the damsel in distress. As usual." He smirked, waiting for Keith's angry retort, and deflating slightly when it didn't come.

"I don't know about a knight in shining armor," Pidge rolled her eyes, "But you were definitely blushing like a damsel in distress a minute ago."

"Hey!"

Allura rolled her eyes affectionately, "Well, I for one am glad he has you, Lance."

Lance grinned, blushing deeply as Allura smiled at him. He felt a tug at his arm and glanced down to Keith, who had wrapped Lance's arm around himself and was hugging his waist protectively.

"I'm glad too." He announced, narrowing his eyes at Allura, and Lance's jaw nearly dropped as he realized that Keith was jealous over him.

He heard a snort and leaned around Allura to stick his tongue out at Pidge, while Allura stifled a giggle, "I'm sure you are, Keith."

The others quickly lapsed back into conversation, but Lance couldn't stop staring at Keith, who had tucked his head back into Lance's neck and was side eyeing Allura suspiciously.

"Dude," Lance raised his eyebrows, "Calm down."

Keith blinked up at him and raised a hand to his cheek as Lance fought to keep his heart under control, "You were blushing."

"Yeah, so?" Lance gently lowered Keith's hand, "She's pretty. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop helping you."

Keith's eyes lowered, "I guess…"

Lance groaned, "Keith, buddy, my man, you can't get jealous every time I talk to a pretty person or we're going to have some serious issues."

Keith chuckled, and Lance squeezed the arm around his shoulders conspiratorially. He was entering dangerous territory, but it was too hard _not_ to flirt with him. It especially didn't help they were snuggled up on the couch and Keith was laughing at his jokes.

By the end of the night Lance managed to catch only the odds and ends of the group's conversation, as most of his attention was caught up in Keith.

He didn't quite know what to think. On one hand, this cutesy lovey-dovey Keith was… well, _cute._ But on the other hand, he was also nothing like the real one. Kind of like when Skittles switched from lime to green apple; same color, different flavor of Keith.

His Keith was a lightning storm in the middle of a silent desert, a forest fire raging unchecked. This Keith may have an interest in him, but Lance would trade him for real-Keith in a heartbeat, cuddles or no.

He came to this conclusion just as Hunk began to yawn, and the others mumbled their own tired sentiments. As they all parted for bed, Shiro offered to walk Keith back to his room, so Lance set off alone, his left side feeling strangely cold.

As he walked, he saw Allura turn a corner ahead of him and hurried to catch up to her, "Allura! Hey, can I ask you a question?"

She turned, smiling, "Of course."

"So this whole Love Bug thing…" He scratched the back of his neck, uncertain, "does it have anything to do with actual feelings?"

Allura's expression faltered, and she raised an eyebrow, "Are you asking me if Keith has feelings for you?"

"No! Well, I mean…" Lance trailed off, "I guess I am. I know Pidge said it was just whoever he saw first but-"

Allura laughed suddenly, "I'm sure Pidge is right."

"But what if she's wrong?" Lance shoved his hands in his pockets moodily, "What if I can't do this? What if I mess up and hurt him?" _What if I let my feelings get in the way and ruin the team for good?_

"My father never actually permitted me to take part in the Sloviklargelhem festivities back on Altea." Allura scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably, "He always said it brought more trouble than it was worth… but I'm sure it won't affect your relationship with Keith. As paladins, your bond should be strong enough to withstand a few awkward situations."

Lance grimaced, "Right, okay. Thanks Allura." He turned to leave, but she called out his name.

"Oh, and Lance," She seemed to deliberate for a moment, "just… Still try to be careful. It's always better to play it safe."

"Baby I'm always careful." He winked at her and Allura groaned affectionately.

"Goodnight Lance."

"Night Allura."

He got back to his room and immediately fell face first onto the mattress. It felt good to yell into his pillow for a few minutes, but the thought of sleeping in the clothes he'd trained in earlier quickly had him up and rummaging around his closet.

He was halfway undressed when he heard a soft knock on the door. Narrowing his eyes, he ignored it, reaching for his blue paladin robe. When he heard it again, slightly louder this time, he huffed out a sigh. _It could be Hunk_ , he thought, unconvinced.

"…Dude." Lance opened the door to Keith fidgeting on the threshold. When their eyes met, Keith smiled softly, his fidgeting immediately ceasing, and Lance felt his heart stutter.

Cursing himself inwardly he sighed, "I guess this is an improvement, considering you haven't already attacked me."

Keith frowned, though it lacked the usual accompanying anger, "I have some self restraint."

Lance raised an eyebrow at his hands which were anxiously tugging at the hem if his shirt, "Then why are you at my door?"

Keith bit his lip, looking distinctly uncomfortable, "Before you say no, just listen-"

"You want to stay in here don't you?"

Keith nodded hastily and Lance rubbed a tired hand down his face, unable to get the image of his anxious fidgeting out off his mind, "You absolutely can't handle sleeping in your own room?"

Keith swallowed, "It doesn't feel right without you."

Lance pulled in a deep breath, trying to remind himself that it was the love bug talking, "Look, you can stay here, but just…" he sighed, "don't try anything funny."

Instead of retorting, Keith's face broke out in a soft smile, and Lance missed the old Keith like a bullet to the heart as this pale comparison hurried to wrap his arms around Lance's torso.

He stood awkwardly for a moment as Keith buried his face in the crook of his neck, and tried to ignore the treacherous warmth that spread to his fingertips.

"So," Lance coughed, "Should we, uh…" he trailed off, gesturing lamely.

Keith nodded, tugging him by the hand to his own bed, immediately laying down, and patting the space in front of him invitingly.

"You've certainly made yourself at home." Lance eyed Keith in his bed, "Wait, aren't you going to get changed?"

Keith frowned, "No? We're just sleeping."

Lance face-palmed and Keith reached over to tug persistently at the hem of his shirt, "You have a robe, you know!"

Keith pouted, and Lance was relieved; this was the closest he'd seen to a normal Keith reaction since he'd been bitten, "But it's all the way back in my room."

"Well you're not sleeping in your clothes." Lance rolled his eyes, "Come on."

Keith whined as Lance tugged him out of the bed, immediately latching onto his arm, and pressing the entire side of his body against his.

Lance side-eyed him thoughtfully as they left his room. Keith had his head on Lance's shoulder, clutching his arm tightly to his chest. It couldn't have been a comfortable way to walk, but Keith's expression was utterly content, and Lance once again had to remind himself that this wasn't his Keith.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?" Lance frowned.

Keith raised his head to blink at him in confusion, "How could I be uncomfortable when I'm with you?"

"Dude," Lance groaned, "Seriously, stop saying things like that."

Keith frowned, "But it's true-"

"No, it's the love bug talking." Lance rolled his eyes and Keith opened his mouth as if to say something and shut it quickly.

"That doesn't change the fact that it's true right now." He muttered, and Lance gulped.

He made it to Keith's room without exploding, but while Keith changed he resolved to come up with a safer topic of conversation.

That resolve went out the window when Keith immediately stripped in front of him.

"Woah, dude!" Lance shielded his eyes, and Keith cocked his head to the side in confusion.

 _Cute._ Lance's mind supplied, though he quickly gestured to the bathroom door, "Just… go in there!"

Keith seemed to deliberate for a moment before smirking and stripping all the way, and Lance shrieked; he did not need to see that much of his "rival."

He clapped a hand over his eyes and didn't open them until he felt a warm – and thankfully fully clothed – body press up against him, Keith's arms winding around his waist.

"Better?"

Lance opened his eyes to find Keith in his paladin robes, his face an inch away from his. Lance could feel his hot breath on his cheek and cleared his throat pointedly.

Keith sighed, shooting him a sad look, and reverted back to the earlier arm clutching. They set off back down the hallway, and Lance wondered for the millionth time if this was such a good idea.

As they neared his room, they passed a small niche, and Lance sensed Keith's smirk just before he pushed him gently against the wall.

Lance sucked in a surprised breath as Keith's fingers trailed down his forearms, coming to softly thread their fingers together. He held his breath, but Keith didn't move, seeming to wait for him.

Keith's robe was loose around his chest and the collar had dipped to show off his collarbone. Lance's heart thumped against his ribcage as thoughts burst unbidden into his mind.

They were so close, and Keith was slowly but surely closing the distance, giving Lance time to push him away, and Lance couldn't seem to figure out if he wanted to.

"Keith."

Lance startled as they turned to find Shiro standing a few feet away, arms folded and expression done, "Remember what we talked about earlier?"

Keith bit his lip, shifting away from Lance guiltily, his gaze trained on the floor. Lance watched his guilty expression for a moment before turning to Shiro.

"It's okay." He said, though the little voice in the back of his mind told him he'd regret it, "He's not pushing me. Besides, I can handle him."

Shiro glanced between them and Lance tried to seem more confident than he felt, "If you say so. Just…" he stared at Keith, who glowered back, "Respect boundaries."

Keith's dour expression wavered, and he went back to glaring at the floor. Shiro turned a questioning eyebrow at Lance, who nodded reassuringly.

Reluctantly, Shiro left, shooting them suspicious glances over his shoulder. Lance chuckled wryly, turning back to Keith, whose eyes were still trained on the floor.

Lance could see his fists were balled up again in effort, and he stepped forward cautiously, laying a hand gently on his shoulder.

Keith let out a breath and reached up to slide Lance's hand to his cheek, nuzzling his face against it. Lance's chest constricted; it was one of the most romantically intimate gestures he'd ever seen and the thought of Keith going back to normal was the only thing stopping him from kissing him on the spot.

"I'm sorry." Keith sighed, pausing to place a soft kiss to his pulse, and Lance melted internally, "I shouldn't have done that. If you don't want me to stay in your room tonight I understand-"

Lance recalled Keith's anxious fidgeting and thought that maybe it wasn't entirely selfish of him to allow Keith to stay. If it lessened his stress, then wasn't it a win-win?

"No," Lance smiled, watching the way Keith's eyes met his hopefully, "It's okay, I know none of this is your fault, and I trust you to control yourself."

Keith smiled softly and shifted closer, his arms finding their way back around his waist, and this time, Lance found his hands coming up to reciprocate.

Keith made an inhuman purring noise in the back of his throat, and Lance hurried to pull them into the room, fearing unwanted bodily reactions.

Initially it was a bit awkward, but if Keith found the situation weird, he didn't show it as he climbed into Lance's bed and patted the spot beside him, mimicking his position from earlier.

Lance bit his lip, shucking off his lion slippers and sliding under the covers, opting to lie flat on his back.

Keith paused for a moment, looking to him for permission, and Lance swallowed, stretching an arm up. Keith grinned in response, snuggling happily into his side, and tucking his head into Lance's chest.

Lance lay stunned for a moment or two, staring down at the boy tucked carefully under his arm. It was such an entirely un-Keith like thing to do, but in the dark corners of his mind, Lance couldn't help but wish he could know a real Keith who did things like this. He wished he could see the real Keith in love.

He felt Keith sigh in contentment, one arm moving to rest on his chest, the other tucked between them. They laid in silence for a few moments and Lance tried to come up with something funny to say to break the ice.

It wasn't often that he was at a loss for words, and even though Keith seemed content to lay there quietly, Lance couldn't help but search for something to fill the silence.

It wasn't until he registered Keith's slow breathing that he realized that Keith had probably fallen asleep. He found his hand unconsciously reaching up to sift through his hair; though if Keith was awake and appreciating it, Lance couldn't tell.

He stared up at the grey ceiling above his bed, wondering what on earth he had done to wind up there.

 **A/N**

 **If I had a nickel for every time I wrote a fic in which Keith being bitten by a strange organism is the core of the plot I would have two nickels… which isn't a lot, but it's kind of weird that it happened twice.**

 **Next update coming soon! In the mean time, feel free to leave a comment – constructive criticism is always welcome!**

 **MDL**


	3. Chapter 3

Lance woke up the next morning to Keith drooling on his chest. Groggily, he reached up, rubbing at his face with his free hand, and trying his best not to jostle Keith.

"Hey." Lance prodded at his shoulder tentatively, "Mullet."

Keith sighed and snuggled closer, mumbling something under his breath, and Lance bit back an amused smile, "I thought you were an early riser?"

"I am." Keith's eyes finally opened, and the brutal honesty they contained made Lance regret waking him, "But I really want to stay here."

Lance nearly groaned, "Well too bad. We have stuff to do."

He ignored Keith's pouty face and carefully wormed his way out of the bed, grimacing at the prominent drool spot on his chest.

"Allura won't make us go on any missions today." Keith stared up at him, "She told me that yesterday."

Lance bit his lip, envisioning the potentially horrified expression on Keith's face once this whole thing wore off, "Look man, you'll thank me later. I'm gonna shower, but I'll meet you in the control room in an hour, how about that?"

Keith opened his mouth, but closed it quickly as Lance shot him a look, and stood, stretching his arms above his head purposefully. Lance raised an eyebrow in what he hoped was an unimpressed expression.

 _Had he been about to ask if he could join?_ Lance's thoughts whirled around in his head, but he pushed them away impatiently. Even if he had been about to ask, it was the love bug talking, not Keith.

He hurried into the bathroom, and jumped under the water before Keith could say or do anything else to test his self control, instantly relaxing under the steam.

He spent most of the shower trying in vain to wash away the feeling of Keith sleeping tucked into his side, but every time he scrubbed his skin it only served to highlight the memory.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do now?" Lance leaned his head against the wall, concentrating on the scalding water drumming against his back as he tried not to think about what would happen when the bite wore off.

How could they just go back to being friends when every time he looked at Keith he saw his sleepy face and tangled bedhead? Their friendship as he knew it was basically over, and the worst part was, it was barely even a friendship to begin with. They'd only recently started to mesh together as teammates, and if anything, his poking and prodding over the past few weeks had done nothing but weaken that.

This Love Bug was the last nail in the coffin of Lance's love life. At least where Keith was concerned.

After spending an agonizingly long time trying to think of any way out of his situation, Lance grudgingly realized he wasn't going to find the answer to his question in the shower, and eventually managed to force himself out from under the water and back into the room, pausing as he realized something was missing.

"You have got to be kidding me." Lance searched his room for a few minutes, before heading out to the bridge in his paladin armor.

"Hey," He greeted the team tiredly as they all glanced up from the image on Pidge's monitor, "has anyone seen my-"

He was cut off as Keith hug-tackled him, nuzzling his cheek into Lance's neck. Lance sighed and accepted defeat, addressing the others over his shoulder, "Seriously though, has anyone seen my shirt?"

He frowned as Hunk stifled a giggle, pointing down at Keith.

Lance glanced down and nearly screamed, "When did you take that?!"

Keith glanced up at him innocently, and Lance blushed as his pouty face was suddenly inches from his, "You weren't using it."

Lance smacked his forehead, which was a surprisingly difficult feat with Keith snuggled into his arms, "Well I need to use it now!"

Keith grinned at him in a way that made Lance cringe, "Well, you could always use mine."

Lance's jaw dropped open, and Keith continued to smile innocently up at him. Yep, this was definitely not his Keith.

"I…" Lance sputtered for a moment, trying to think of a good response to that offer, "Would your shirt even fit me?"

"Yeah, probably," Keith leaned back, running his hands over Lance's shoulders, "Only one way to find out…"

He tugged Lance by the hand, and Lance shot his teammates an SOS expression, though the group of back stabbers did nothing but laugh as Keith dragged him from the room.

Half an hour later, Keith and Lance sat on the floor in the training room; Lance was grudgingly wearing Keith's shirt, and felt more mentally and physically tired than anyone should ever be at ten o'clock in the artificial morning.

The rest of the team kept shooting him amused glances, but Lance was too tired to flip them off, so he simply concentrated on Keith, who was sitting snugly in between his legs, and smoothing down his hair where it'd gotten messed up during the struggle.

He'd initially fought the idea of switching shirts; Keith's was kind of tight around his shoulders, and in his opinion the black made him look like he was on his way to a funeral, but he also knew that there was no way in hell Keith was going to give him his shirt back, and he definitely didn't want to be the only one in armor.

Meanwhile, the image of Keith wearing his shirt was forever etched into his memory, and the worst part was that he actually looked pretty good in it. The sleeves were a bit too long for his arms so they half covered his hands; every once in a while they would flap around when he gestured and Lance was ready to combust with the cuteness of it all.

If he had any other clothes, Lance would be tempted to tell him to just keep it. Though, when he thought about it, Keith would have probably just balled it up and thrown it in his face the moment the bite wore off.

He was shaken out of this grim thought as Allura stood up in front of them, clapping for their attention, "Alright paladins, I thought today since we aren't able to go out on any missions, for… obvious reasons, we could do some team bonding exercises instead!"

Her announcement was met with a chorus of groans, though Hunk snickered to himself, "I think Lance and Keith are doing enough bonding on their own."

Pidge snorted and offered him a high five as Lance opened his mouth to protest.

"Come on guys, leave them alone." Shiro chastised them, though Lance could see him hiding his own smirk.

"You guys are all traitors." Lance pouted, though it was short lived as Keith leaned his head back and whispered in his ear.

"I could go for a different type of bonding…"

Lance's eyes shot wide and he cleared his throat pointedly as Keith nuzzled his head against his jaw, "Relax I'm just joking."

"Uh huh…" Lance's head was spinning. He thought he'd gotten at least a little used to all of the affection over the last 24 hours, but he was starting to believe he was further down shit creek than he'd previously imagined.

"Anyway!" Allura clapped for their attention, "I thought we'd start with the maze."

Of course Lance was selected to go first, with Hunk at the controls. The second he saw the walls go up and disappear, Lance knew in his gut that this was going to end horribly.

"Take three steps to your left… NO no no your other left!"

Lance rubbed his shoulder where it had hit the electric wall, "What do you mean my other left!?"

"My left!"

"But you specifically said _your_ left!" Lance shot Pidge a look and she cracked up laughing.

He could see Keith watching him out of the corner of his eye, but chose not to look. He knew by instinct that Keith was standing at the very edge of the maze, staring at him intently. It was a little creepy actually, especially considering Keith usually sat off by himself whenever someone else was taking their turn.

He managed to make it another twenty yards before hitting another wall, "Shit!" He yelled, clutching his arm. Damn, Allura must have turned up the voltage, because that one _hurt_.

"Keith!"

Lance heard Shiro yell and turned to find that Keith had walked directly into the outermost wall. Unthinking, Lance took a step toward him and managed to run face first into another bout of electrocution.

He hit the ground, rubbing his head angrily and watched as Shiro dragged Keith back away from the maze, shouting, "Allura! Maybe we should try something else for now."

Next up was the gladiator, though that was short lived, as the second Lance hit the floor Keith went into protection mode and quite literally launched his bayard across the room like a maniac, spearing the robot instantly.

Keith rushed over to Lance as he lay stunned on the floor, kneeling beside him, and Lance shot Shiro an exasperated look. Shiro scratched the back of his neck worriedly.

"Uh, I guess we should try the shield test?"

The others nodded their assent, though the moment their backs touched; Lance realized yet again that this was going to be a mistake. The second the drones began firing on them it was clear where Keith's priorities lay.

"Keith you have to protect everyone, not just Lance!" Pidge cried, as she was hit, and fell through the opening in the floor.

Keith growled in response, diving in front of Lance as Hunk was sent through the floor as well. Shiro and Allura did their best, but eventually the rest of them were pegged out one by one in record time.

By the end of it, they all ended up in a group on the floor; Lance was sitting with Keith clinging to his front like a koala, his chin resting on his shoulder.

"Well that was… worse than I expected." Allura was rubbing her head where Pidge had accidentally whacked her with her shield.

"Yeah well I could have told you that." Lance sighed, "It's all because Keith can't think straight. We were doomed as a team from the start."

"I can think straight." Keith was frowning, ignoring Hunk's derisive snort.

"Oh yeah, what's your favorite color?"

"Lance." Keith answered immediately, before pausing, "Wait, what was the question?"

Everyone else shot each other exasperated glances, too tired to even poke fun at the situation. Keith carried on his cuddling obliviously, and Lance's spirits fell even further as he turned around in his arms to face the others again, playing absently with his hands as they wrapped around his waist.

It'd been a full day and Keith wasn't showing any signs of recovery whatsoever; though, he supposed it _was_ a bit early. He had still hoped that might not be the case, but as he gazed down at Keith's vacant expression he felt his heart cringe.

Looking around, everyone else seemed to have come to the same conclusion, so Lance mustered up his remaining energy.

"Hey Keith," Lance asked experimentally, "Did you get bitten by a love bug, or an irritation bug?"

"Isn't that just a normal bug?" Hunk spoke up from across the room.

Lance raised an eyebrow, considering, "Fair enough…"

It wasn't his best joke, but the mood in the room lightened considerably as the others laughed, and Lance felt himself lightening up in the process.

"I don't know what I expected to come out of this." Allura sighed, though she was still smiling wryly, "It just feels so useless to sit around idly."

Shiro nodded, "I know what you mean, princess. I thought that maybe Keith would be able to handle something small like training, but it's clear now that the bug has had more of an effect on him than we thought."

"It's just so weird," Lance scratched his head, "Like even if he were in love with someone for real, I couldn't picture the actual Keith being like… this." He nodded down at Keith, who was still playing with his hands, completely oblivious to the conversation around him.

"According to the records the Notorians have, the victims of the Love Bug develop an unhealthy obsession with their subject, and will automatically begin to act physically and emotionally affectionate, regardless of the victim's personality." Pidge pointed out.

"So what you're saying is that this isn't how he would act in a real relationship at all?" Lance asked, slightly disappointed.

"I'm saying that we don't really know how much of it is the love bug, and how much of it is how Keith would actually act if he was in love." Pidge adjusted their glasses, and they all frowned, considering the new information.

Lance glanced up at Shiro, "Wait, you've known him the longest, has he ever been in a relationship?"

Shiro shrugged, "Not that I know of. He didn't really like to talk about friends or school."

Lance glanced back to Keith, who just seemed to have realized they were all talking about him, and was glancing around in confusion.

"Whatever question you just asked, the answer is probably Lance."

They all burst out laughing, and Keith frowned, leaning back against Lance's chest defensively. Lance just sighed, leaning his chin on Keith's shoulder and knocking their heads together playfully, "We didn't ask you anything, idiot."

Keith shrugged, leaning their heads back together gently, "I don't care."

The others glanced around in concern, but Lance decided that he'd had enough theorizing for one day. Besides, none of it mattered, since Keith's little focus issue would disappear with time. The rest of it he figured they'd find out at some point or another; there was bound to be some unlucky sap out there in the universe that would pique Keith's interest, as much as it pained Lance to imagine it.

"Well, I'm going to go back to my room and take a cat nap," Lance yawned and stood, carefully untangling Keith from his torso, "maybe try and sleep off all this failure."

The others waved half heartedly, and Lance didn't think twice when Keith automatically followed him out.

"Well," He sighed as Keith lifted his arm up around his shoulders, repositioning it until he was comfortable, "you got what you wanted, I guess we're spending the day in my room."

Keith grinned at him, and Lance couldn't help but shake the feeling like he knew that was going to happen.

The others may have thought he was kidding, but Lance fell asleep about ten minutes after stepping foot in his room. He didn't even stop Keith from crawling in the bed fully clothed this time and just accepted defeat, allowing him to cuddle up against his side like a gangly cat.

They woke up from their nap an hour or two later, Lance realizing belatedly that they'd barely eaten anything that day and dragged Keith to the kitchen, where they found Hunk baking something that looked like lemon squares and smelled like spaghetti.

"You two look like you just woke up." Hunk eyed them suspiciously, and Lance nodded.

"That's because we did." He sat in one of the chairs and automatically opened up his arms, trying not to think about the fact that he was getting used to all of the physical affection as Keith positioned himself in his lap.

He tried not to stare as Keith yawned widely and rubbed at his eyes with Lance's sleeves and Hunk shot them an amused look.

"Oh are the love birds up already?" Pidge had wandered into the room, setting her laptop on the counter, "I thought you two would be in bed for the rest of the day."

"I wanted to." Keith pouted, squeezing Lance's arm reproachfully, as Lance rolled his eyes.

"If it were up to you we'd never leave the bed."

"TMI." Hunk pretended to plug his ears, and Lance sputtered indignantly.

"It's not like that!"

Pidge chuckled and snatched a lemon square from the tray Hunk had set to the side to cool, "You should probably keep track of how he acts from here on. Pretty soon it should start to wear off."

Lance blinked, surprised as he experienced mixed feelings at the thought, "Thank quiznak."

"Right," Hunk nodded agreeably, "pretty soon it'll be back to you two at each other's throats constantly… which, isn't much better actually."

Lance frowned, glancing down at Keith, who seemed to be watching his reaction. He was saved the response as Pidge piped up.

"I mean at least in that case Keith can still do his job. Right now he's just kind of a mess."

Lance hummed agreeably, though his thoughts were being pulled in two different directions as Keith traced invisible lines across his chest moodily.

"Anyway," Pidge sighed, stretching, "I'd better go finish repairs on my lion's shield. It's finally almost done after two weeks of work." Pidge announced, and Lance felt his spirits drop impossibly further at the mention.

"You, uh," He sighed, "You're sure you don't want any help with that?"

"I said I was fine, Lance." Pidge shot him a look, "And stop blaming yourself, it wasn't your fault."

She stood to leave, an awkward silence in her wake, and Hunk hastily tried to seem ensconced in baking, knowing full well it was a touchy subject. Lance could tell Keith was bursting with questions, so he smiled at Hunk, before pushing Keith to his feet and standing as well.

"Let us know when your second batch is done? I think we're going to go back to my room."

Hunk nodded agreeably and Lance sighed internally, recognizing his look of pity.

Once they were in the hall, Lance turned to Keith's questioning stare, "Alright, just ask."

Keith seemed to deliberate for a second, "Why did you act weird about Pidge's repairs?"

"Because it was my fault?" He stated plainly, shrugging when Keith seemed unconvinced.

"She said it wasn't."

"Well she's wrong, okay?" Lance snapped, immediately feeling bad at the hurt expression on Keith's face, "I made a stupid piloting mistake. Remember that one battle last week? The one where Pidge got hit, and her lion almost crashed? That was because I messed up and she had to swoop in to protect me."

Keith frowned, "Okay but we all make mistakes."

Lance laughed humorlessly, "You don't. And besides that's just one of the mountain of mistakes I've made since we became paladins. Remember the first time I flew red? I couldn't even stop!" he sighed running a tired hand down his face, "Maybe I am just a bad pilot."

"You're not a bad pilot." Keith stopped in his tracks, frowning.

Lance scoffed, "Yeah, that's coming from the guy who once told me that I was the "worst pilot ever.""

Keith reached up, running a hand through his hair, "You know I didn't mean that."

Lance rolled his eyes, trying not to be distracted by Keith's fingers in his hair, "No offense, but I would be a lot more convinced of that if you weren't under the influence of a love bug bite."

"It's true!" Keith was glaring at him now, and Lance felt his heart leap; _this_ was his Keith, "You're one of the best pilots on the team. You were only bad then because it was your first time flying blue. You were _being_ a bad pilot, but that doesn't mean you _are_ a bad pilot."

Lance stared down at him, flabbergasted, and Keith blinked slowly, his usual dopey look seeping back into his expression. Lance nearly groaned as Keith snuggled back into his neck.

Was that the old Keith shining through? Did that mean the bite was wearing off?

They were standing in front of his room, Keith's fingers still curled in his hair, and the only thing Lance wanted in life was to kiss the boy in front of him.

"Thanks, Keith." Lance mumbled, trying to convince himself that it had been real Keith talking, "Should we, uh…"

He gestured to his room awkwardly, and Keith smiled, tugging him inside. It was like the awkward spell had been broken; they spent the next few hours just talking, sitting in his bed both facing each other, their legs a tangle somewhere in the middle.

Lance quickly found out that "lovey-dovey Keith" was apparently really chatty, and after only a little needling, he actually managed to get him to open up about his time in the desert.

"No way!" Lance shoved him lightly, watching his eyes sparkle in mirth, "You did _not_ catch and eat a lizard!"

Keith nodded gleefully, "I did. It was awful, but I forgot to go into town for food for a few days and it was the only thing I could find-"

"You ate Hernandez!"

"I ate… what?" Keith cocked his head, and Lance resisted the urge to kiss him on the nose.

"My older brother had a pet lizard growing up named Hernandez." Lance recalled, "We got him from some family friends, so he was really old and didn't do much, but he was still my favorite family member." Lance pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, "Oh Hernandez, may you rest in peace."

Keith chuckled, "Wait so he died?"

"Uh yeah?" Lance raised an eyebrow, "You ate him!"

Lance jabbed a finger into Keith's stomach playfully, which quickly turned into a massive pillow fight. One possibly purposeful slip from Keith, and they both tumbled onto the floor, Lance landing on top of him.

They both paused for a split second before bursting into laughter. Maybe lovey-dovey Keith wasn't so bad after all. Lance still missed the old Keith, but something inside of him knew would miss this Keith as well.

He wasn't sure when the laughter died, but Lance hadn't noticed Keith leaning up until their lips crashed together.

Every molecule in his body froze as Keith's lips pushed gently against his, almost like if he didn't move he'd suddenly wake up and this whole nightmare would end up a bad dream. A really nice, soft, bad dream. One that tasted like Hunk's spaghetti lemon squares.

He snapped back into his senses as Keith's tongue darted out invitingly. With a gasp, he wrenched himself back, one hand on Keith's chest as Keith whined at the loss of contact.

"What the hell." Lance muttered, pressing a hand to his mouth in shock, "Did we just-"

Keith frowned, "I thought you wanted to… it seemed like you were into me-"

"Dude, this isn't you!" Lance smacked his forehead, feeling his tensions rising unbidden.

Keith cocked his head to the side, "I don't understand-"

"This isn't you, Keith!" Lance groaned, tugging at his hair, "You're under the influence of a bug bite, remember? The real Texas mullet stab-first-ask-questions-later Keith would never kiss me in a million years!"

"He might!" Keith was glaring at him, and Lance felt hope blossom in his chest, until Keith's hand came up to cup his cheek gently, and he groaned, "He might want to kiss you, I'm not an _entirely_ different person."

"You kind of are." Lance folded his arms, trying to ignore the fact that he was still technically straddling Keith's lap, "even Pidge confirmed that it might not actually be you in there at the moment so-"

Keith opened his mouth to protest, but Lance just sighed, "Look, just, please don't do this. Not now."

Keith bit his lip, and Lance cursed himself inwardly for being bad at feelings, "Why don't we just… he gestured to the bed, "It's getting kind of late, and according to Pidge this whole thing should start to wear off tomorrow. Let's just go to bed, and figure this thing out in the morning."

Keith nodded sadly, and Lance awkwardly scrambled off of him. They laid quietly for a few moments, until Keith shifted against him, "I'm sorry." he tucked his forehead against Lance's chest with a sigh.

"Don't be." Lance ran a hand through his hair comfortingly, "It's not your fault."

Keith's arms tightened around him in response, and Lance couldn't help but think about how he was getting used to the feeling of Keith's arms around him, and he didn't want to think about when the love bug wore off.

He woke up the next day to an empty bed. His shirt was folded neatly in the corner and Lance sucked in a deep breath, telling himself it was for the best.

When he got to the control room, Keith was already there along with the others. After a brief glance his way, Keith's eyes remained trained on the floor, and Lance couldn't help but notice his hands balled up in fists at his sides.

He must still have been under the influence, Lance realized, but if he was fighting it, that meant it was finally wearing off. He ignored the mixed feelings in his chest and went to greet the others, "Hey guys, what's cookin?"

Keith continued to refuse to look at him, his face a mask of concentration, though Lance noticed him shift infinitesimally closer over the few minutes that the team stood around talking.

Allura ultimately decided that they should take the day off again, just to be sure, and everyone else seemed relieved except for Lance, who desperately needed answers.

The second the meeting was adjourned, Keith sped off, and Lance was left by himself for the first time in what felt like weeks. Not quite knowing what to do with himself, he made his way to the common room, plopping down beside Pidge on the couch.

"No offense Lance, but I'm kinda busy." Pidge tapped away at her computer, "Go bug Keith."

Lance groaned, "He won't even look at me. The Love Bug wore off."

Pidge snorted, "Yeah, I'd noticed… though I thought you would've done something by now."

Lance frowned, "Like what?" Pidge glanced up from their typing for a moment, raising an unimpressed eyebrow, and Lance coughed awkwardly, "You know it was just the bite," Lance sighed, "He's not actually into me."

Pidge groaned, shutting her laptop and turning to Lance fully, "Are you actually that stupid?"

Lance frowned, "Pidge, what-"

"He likes you. Keith likes you. That's why the whole Love Bug thing worked on him."

"Wait wait wait," Lance held up his hands, his brain reeling, "You said that Keith would act all lovey to the first person he saw after getting bitten-"

"Oh yeah, I lied about that part. It's not the first person he sees, it's the person he likes." Pidge doubled over laughing at Lance's expression, "At first I didn't want to out Keith, in case there was an actual reason why he was keeping it a secret, and then I realized that it was just really fun to watch the tortured expression on your face."

"Pidge, what the fuck." Lance jumped up, as he realized what that meant, "Oh man, I messed up."

"Well…" She raised an eyebrow at him, as he stood in shock, "Go get him."

Lance's eyes widened, "Right! Thanks Pidge!"

He bolted out of the room, and sprinted to the training deck; which was empty. After searching probably half the castle, Lance eventually found Keith back in his own room.

Standing apprehensively in front of the door, he took in a deep breath, eyeing the shadow moving around from beneath the door, – Keith must've been pacing – and tried to muster up the courage to knock.

"Hey man." Lance smiled as the door swished open, trying not to feel extremely giddy.

"What do you want, Lance?" Keith eyed him warily, folding his arms.

"Uh, I just wanted to stop by," Lance shrugged, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, "See how you're doing."

Keith eyed him skeptically, "Well, I'm doing fine. You really don't need to check up on me-"

"Pidge told me."Lance couldn't contain it anymore, "She said that the love bug bite didn't make you attached to the first person you saw, but the person you like."

He watched Keith's expression go from confused, to shocked, to angry, to horrified in less than five seconds.

"I…" he took a step back, and Lance took the chance to step forward into the room, the door swishing shut behind him, "She's-"

"Nope." Lance shook his head, "Keith, I know she wasn't lying."

Keith seemed angry for a moment, his hand in fists by his sides before he glanced away, gritting his teeth, "Look, I understand completely if you don't-"

"You idiot." Lance shook his head, stepping forward.

This kiss was much better than their first. This time he was prepared and did his best to pour all of his feelings, his insecurities, his hopes, dreams, and doubts into one brief brushing of their lips.

"I can't believe we didn't do this sooner," Lance moaned, and Keith tugged lightly on his hair.

"Just shut up and kiss me."

Lance grinned, happy to comply. Their lips met once again, and Lance groaned as Keith's hands roamed across his chest, happy just by the fact that this was _Keith,_ the real Keith.

Lance deepened the kiss, tightening his grip around Keith's waist and Keith pushed him none too gently against the wall, one hand sliding up his shirt.

Lance broke the kiss, briefly and smirked, bumping their noses together, "So am I going to get to see the real Keith being cute and cuddly?"

"Cute, no." Keith rolled his eyes, leaning in to kiss along Lance's jaw line, "Cuddly, maybe."

"Oh, I don't know…" Lance trailed off as Keith found the sensitive spot at the base of his neck, "You're pretty cute when you want to be."

Keith snorted, and Lance brought their lips back together just as the door swished open beside them.

"Hey Keith, I just wanted to talk to you about-"

Shiro froze in the doorway, staring at them in shock, as Lance yelped and yanked Keith's hand out of his shirt.

"Shiro," Keith growled, still holding Lance against the wall, "I'm giving you three seconds to leave."

"Okay but-"

"One."

Shiro nodded, leaving hurriedly, though just before the door shut, he popped his head back in, "Just, before I leave, there's a team meeting at-"

He smirked and left quickly as Keith threw Lance's shirt at his head.

"Ugh." Keith groaned, and met Lance's eyes.

They stood there staring at one another for a moment before bursting out laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Epilogue**

"It wasn't love." Keith shook his head, frowning, "I know what love feels like. That was more of an infatuation."

Lance raised an eyebrow, propping his head up on his hand so he could see Keith better, "How so?"

They'd been having different variations of the same debate for the past couple of weeks; ever since the Love Bug had worn off.

"It was almost like…" Keith trailed off, biting his lip, "Like everything else was clouded, and all I could see, or think, or breathe was you."

Lance felt his heart stutter softly and leaned down to kiss Keith's forehead, "That sounds a lot like love to me."

"No… it's definitely better this way." Keith sighed, resting his head against Lance's chest, "I can actually think clearly now. I can see _you_ more clearly, not just the rosy tinted version of you the love bug wanted me to see."

"I don't know, rosy tinted sounds kinda nice," Lance chuckled, "This me has tons of flaws."

Keith shook his head, "It gives you more depth."

Lance placed a hand over his heart, "Babe, are you calling me shallow?"

Keith rolled his eyes affectionately, poking at Lance's pouting face. Despite what his insecure mind would like him to believe, he did actually understand what Keith was trying to say.

Keith in love was much different than Keith bitten by a Love Bug. This Keith was difficult and pouty; he challenged Lance in the best and worst ways, and above all he respected boundaries.

He was still just as cuddly, though he didn't seem to want to admit it. Around the others, he acted normal; Lance was usually the one to initiate hand holding or hugging, but the second they were alone Keith would literally lay on top of him for hours.

Not that Lance was complaining. Now that he was actually allowed to cuddle Keith, now that it was actually expected, he couldn't imagine being happier.

"Hey." Lance ran a hand through Keith's hair, smiling to himself when Keith sighed in contentment, "I love you."

Keith squeezed the arm around him, "You've told me that three times today."

"I know." Lance laid back, closing his eyes, "I just wanted to remind you."

Keith snorted, "I love you too, idiot."

 **A/N**

 **Sorry this is so short** **! College has been a little stressful haha, but the previous chapter has been edited as well (thankfully… it was kind of a mess…)**

 **Anyway, thank you all for your kind reviews!**


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